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Galley Tables

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At its most recent regular meeting,
the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly approved funding for the Kodiak Island Borough
School District in an
amount that fell short of the district's request. However, thanks in part to a
lower than expected rate for health insurance, and after an adjustment to its
budget, the school district now says the discrepancy has been reduced
significantly.

The school district's initial
request for funding from the borough was 10-million, 660-thousand dollars. The
assembly approved funding in the amount of 10-million, 290-thousand dollars, some
370-thousand dollars short of the district's request. Speaking at the
assembly's work session Thursday, Superintendant Stewart McDonald said the
district had revised its budget to reflect an unexpected change in the
projected rate for health insurance.

--(McDonald
144 sec."When we were budgeting ... cases
right up to the end.")

McDonald
said each year the district is rated by its insurance provider on its recent
experience, a rating based on the number of claims filed and how costly those
claims were. The savings resulting from the lower than expected, locked-in
rate, resulted in a reduction of nearly 287-thousand dollars in the school district's
projected budget.

--(McDonald
228 sec."When we did the math here ... with
that in terms of a cut.")

Those
possible cuts would likely come from the district's materials budget, according to McDonald.
He said he wanted to avoid any reductions in staffing above all else, and that
the reduced difference between the borough's approved amount and the district's
request would likely allow for that. Still, he said cuts are
never desirable.

--(McDonald
321 sec."I don't want to make it ... hard
on preserving that staff.")

The
school district is set to receive 750-thousand dollars in stimulus funding from
the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund in each of the next two years. However, the
funds come with federal guidelines on how they may be spent on education.
Therefore McDonald said the funding would be treated as a grant rather than as
a resource to balance the budget, and likely go toward addressing some
long-standing technology needs throughout the district.

--(McDonald
445 sec."We've been putting band aids on
...in that third year.")

Borough Manager Rick
Gifford pointed out that the unexpected positive news with regard to health
insurance rates based on recent good experience can just as well go the
opposite way in the future, and that the district should proceed with caution. Assemblywoman
Pat Branson reminded people that the borough's budget is still a working
document and that the 83-thousand dollar difference does not represent a
deficit until the budget has actually been passed. The borough assembly will
vote on its budget this Thursday at its next regular meeting.